10 Ways To Stop Stress Eating

My friend, Ginny, was crossing the street when a car swerved around the corner and almost hit her.

As soon as she jumped out the way she exclaimed, “I need a Snickers bar!” We laughed, but it was at that moment that she realized how much she turns to food in answer to her stress.

You may not have cars almost running you down, but you do have disturbing emails, long hours at the computer, demanding children, worries about the future, co-workers and bosses who upset you, financial concerns, and other stressors on a regular basis.

Stress eating is common. However, there are many better ways to handle stress besides food.

The most appropriate reason to eat is in response to physical hunger, obviously, because the body is literally asking to be fed.

Unfortunately, most people don’t even pay attention to their bodies or bellies to determine when to eat. They eat because of the time on the clock, the availability of food, as an antidote to boredom, or—most dangerously—in reaction to stress.

After all, one study reported that the average person experiences stress about 50 times a day.

And eating in reaction to stress is so common it has become an unconscious habit. We do it without even thinking. I even had someone tell me she can’t work at her computer unless she is eating to help her calm down!

Eating has become an easy, fast answer to what ails us. Eating when stressed can calm, numb, distract, and satisfy—at least for a minute or two. It seems like a good solution to stress at first and it’s “oh so easy” to reach for food.

The problem is that after you finish eating you now have more stress than you started with–the stress of extra pounds.

Don’t let that happen to you. Here are ten strategies for helping you reverse the habit of eating when you’re stressed.

These symptoms occur when you experience a real or imagined threat. This hard-wired response when we feel threatened is called the fight-or-flight response. We needed this response to survive as a species in ancient times, but in today’s world, fighting or fleeing in response to our stress isn’t exactly socially acceptable.

So we stress eat—not a helpful alternative response. Be aware of when you feel these signs of stress and proceed to the next technique before you reach for food.

2. Use the STOP sign technique.

STOP is an acronym for the steps you can take to reverse the fight-or-flight response–Stop, Take a Breath, Observe, and Proceed.

Take a breath, or take five breaths, or breathe deeply for the rest of the day. In other words, take as many breaths as you need to help your body come back to balance and feel more balanced.

Observe your thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and feelings often get a little catastrophic when we’re upset and this takes a minute or two of observation to realize. Ask yourself what it is you really need. Are you physically hungry for food or are you needing something else?

Once you’ve done these first three steps, then you’re ready to proceed with greater awareness and clarity. You will be less likely to eat.

As you might have noticed, these are very similar to the signs of stress.

In order to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, you’ll need to do a little investigation. How long has it been since you last ate? We normally need food at least every 4 hours. Is there something that is stressing you right now?

If so, that urge to reach for food might be misguided. Now is a good time to reach for relief elsewhere. The next few strategies could be just what you need.

4. Walk around the block

Go take your body for a walk! There is hardly any better stress reliever than talking a stroll around the block.

When you walk (or run), you are responding in a way that brings the body internally back to balance after being stressed. The fight-or-flight response activates the sympathetic nervous system. Walking activates the parasympathetic nervous system and your body comes back to homeostasis.

This is associated with a greater ability to solve problems and think creatively—something you really need when you’re stressed.

5. Strike a pose (a yoga pose, that is)

Research indicates that doing yoga can reduce the stress hormone, cortisol, in your body even more than using relaxation techniques.

Turn that harmful talk around by asking yourself “What’s another way of looking at this?”

There is always a more positive way of looking at any situation. If you haven’t tried this strategy, I highly recommend it. You could even begin to see the humor in the things that used to have you running for the fridge.

The Takeaway

It can be tempting to let yourself wander to the snack cabinet when you’re feeling stressed. Even if stress eating is a major problem for you, by using these simple techniques, you can reduce your stress without the cookie—and without affecting your waistline.

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Dr. Lynn Rossy is the Health Psychologist for Healthy for Life and Director of the Mindfulness Practice Center at the University of Missouri. She develops, delivers, and researches programs that target stress reduction, physical inactivity, obesity, and wellness in the workplace. Her empirically-validated 10 week program called “Eat for Life” helps people have a healthier relationship with their food and their bodies. Rossy blogs weekly about her mindful eating and living philosophy at TastingMindfulness.com.